AVUHSD Board puts off consultant agreements

LANCASTER — Antelope Valley Union High School District’s Board of Education tabled two agreements with consultant Sheri Duggan, although the District will continue to work with her through an existing contract approved, last year.

The first tabled agreement was to cancel a previous agreement with Aligned Action Consulting LLC, which Duggan founded. That agreement was for $172,000 for the current school year and $240,000 each for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

The District has been invoiced $40,000, from Nov. 16 through Dec. 30.

Board President Charles Hughes motioned for the item to be tabled so the Board could have more discussion at a later time. The Board voted unanimously to table the item.

The second tabled agreement, which was also unanimously approved, was for two years worth up to $232,000, with $112,000 for the current school year and $120,000 for the 2023-24 school year.

Duggan gave an overview of her work with the District at the meeting. She works as a facilitator on District initiatives to strengthen the multi-tiered system of supports.

The core components of multitiered system of supports, also known as MTSS, include differentiated classroom instruction, systemic and sustainable change and positive behavioral support, according to the California Department of Education.

For the District, the MTSS definition that Duggan and the District team developed is a proactive, data-oriented framework that cultivates the academic, social-emotional and behavioral development of all students.

Board Vice President Carla Corona asked Duggan when she has been the facilitator in a district as large as AV Union High School District.

Duggan is working with a District in Arizona that is as large as AVUHSD. She has also worked on smaller scale with a large high school district in Arizona.

“I am new to this work because I just started with it my own company, as you are aware,” Duggan said.

Duggan worked with the District under a previously approved consultant agreement with a different company. She first started working with the District, in 2019, and has been the only point of contact. The work was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed, last year.

“The work in the District level has been happening for a while,” Duggan said. “They definitely want to see it continue.”

Corona asked Duggan why she feels qualified to do the work.

“It’s a large contract and me personally needs to feel 100% confident in the work and you,” Corona said. “So why you?”

Duggan said that throughout her career she has a way to look at things and shift them.

“I have been working with quite a few other districts,” she said. “I hope that you could see my passion that I think is potentially spreading, helping throughout the system. I have a kindness, a professionalism and I am not afraid to ask those difficult, difficult questions.”